Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-10-27
IMITATION MAHOGANY.


formed Into Foreign Goods.
Two small but elegant center-tables
stood in the show-window of a fur
niture store few days ago and at
tracted the attention of passers by
their graceful design and soft. rich
finish. One appeared to be of dark
mahogany, the other OF antique En-
glish oak.
Imported stockP" was casually
asked.
Mot at all. +" responded the dealer;
''made right here at home"
why, l didn't know any foreign
woods were brought to this city in un-
manufactured form?''
True enough; for what you are adj
miring as foreign goods are made
from trees which grow plentifully in
every Indiana forest That apparent
ly stylish mahogany table is first
class article of wild cherry, and the
antique oaks not from England, but
probably from some white oak on the
banks of White river.
Such a clew to interesting develop
ments could not be disregarded, and
before many hours a reporter was in
the outskirts of the city prowling about
among tall chimneys, climbing over
piles of lumber and rubbish, and in
quiring right and left for the object of
his search. At last large building,
from which issued the peculiar hum of
OF woodworking machinery, was
reached.
$50 you want to know how it is
done. do you?' said the chief owner of
the establishment, after hasty state
ment Of the causes leading to the visit
''Well. there is very little to learn.
just come with me, and you can see it
all in a few minutes
'Three or four years ago." began
the guide. cit was found that our ma
tive woods could be stained in close i'm
itation of almost any of the high-priced
foreign stock, and since that time the
industry has become extensive. By
experiment and comparison we have
learned that cherry is the best
for the manufacture of mahoga-
ny finish, though hard maple is
much used and answers the
purpose very well. The dyes we use
are all vegetable, and are the extract
of certain woods which are common to
the chemical trade. Inferior work is
sometimes done by using aniline col
ors, but they are apt to fade unless
vanished as soon as dry. The furni-
ture is finished in the natural color of
the wood. as you see here, before
staining. Then the dye is applied
with a brush. like varnish, and it per-
meates the pores so deeply that the
later sandpapering and polishing pro-
cesses do not remove it.
This man." as workman was ap-
preached who seemed to be sprinkling
flour on a vanished table and wash
ing it off with a handful of moist rags,
'is polishing the furniture, which is
the next to to the last stage of the
work. After staining, the wood is
vanished and sandpapered alternate
ly, until the final coat of varnish is
very smooth and glossy. Then this
man here scours the gloss all off
with powdered pomice-stone, viii CHI
you see him using now. After that
there remains but one process, the fin
ishing in oil The pomi re-
moves the gloss but leaves the sur
face perfectly smooth and hard. Then
oil is rubbed on with care and deliber-
alton, until the soft finish which is so
muca sought after is obtained.
Furniture stained and oiled in this
manner will not fade, and scratches
and bruises will not look white and
raw, as they do on a vanished finish.
I'VE have delicate pinkish shade
of dye which is called natural cherry
and which is about the color of cherry
wood which has been exposed to the
air for many, years. Our mahogany
finish is easily distinguishable from
genuine mahogany, as it is considera-
bly, darker than the natural wood.
We can make it the same, but the de-
mand is for the darker finish now. 1t
changes every season. and the people
may want the lighter shades
next year. As for our antique oak. it
is made to resemble the English black
or bog oak. though it is really not
much like it 1t is prepared simply by
giving a darker shade to ordinary
quarter oak, and
Don't know what quarter oakdis2
It is CHARTERED oak A large los1s
sawed into quarters, and then the quar-
tiers sawed into boards. This process
shows the grain of the wood. which is
very beautiful and is never seen the
same in two boards.
LAS was saying. after the quarter
oak Is stained it must have its pores
filled with kind of putty like prepara-
ton to keep the surface prefectly
smooth. Then it is vanished, and
sandpapered. and polished just as the
other kinds are. Furniture of this
wood is exceedingly popular, and it is
being applied to almost every use of
which wood is capable. I think it a
safe assertion that of all our fine furni-
ture sold this season two-thirds is of
antique oak. "-Indianapolis Ne,os.